Hillary Clinton’s Poll Numbers Take A Dip
According to a new Quinnipiac Poll, Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers have taken a hit over the months since she left office, primarily it would seem due to the slow drip of ongoing news regarding the attack in Benghazi last September:
Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating dropped significantly in a Quinnipiac University poll released Friday, as the months-long investigation into the terrorist attacks in Benghazi have begun to drag on the former secretary of State.
According to the survey, 52 percent said they have a favorable view of Clinton, against 40 unfavorable. That’s down from her all-time high of 61 percent favorable and 34 unfavorable in February of this year.
“Her score is down substantially from her all-time high score in February,” said Quinnipiac director of polling Peter A. Brown in a statement.
“The drop in favorability is substantial among men, Republicans and independent voters. One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi.”
Despite this, Clinton remains in a very strong position should she choose to run for President in 2016:
Clinton remains the frontrunner in the 2016 presidential race.
Quinnipiac polled two potential Republican challengers; Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Paul clocked in at 32 percent favorable and 24 percent unfavorable. Bush was at 29 percent positive and 29 percent negative.
Clinton leads Paul 49 percent to 41 percent in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up, and leads Bush 48 to 40.
“Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains the queen of the 2016 hill at this point, but the wide gap between her and some of the leading Republican contenders on favorability may be closing, as her overall favorability has taken a hit,” Brown said.
Vice President Joe Biden suffers from a negative approval rating, at 37 percent favorable and 44 percent unfavorable.
“If Ms. Clinton chooses not to run in 2016, the potential Democratic field could include a somewhat unpopular vice president and a number of new faces who are unknown to the vast majority of Americans,” Brown said
For this reason, one suspects that there will be tremendous pressure on Clinton to get into the race. Whether she’ll take the bait is, of course something that remains to be seen.
Republican scandal mongering about Benghazi is having its effect-which means it will continue.
Unfortunately, Hillary doesn’t have a platform to push back against this. Maybe when her book comes out, that will help.
What she needs to do is to create fresh good news on her behalf, which means she has to be coming out of retirement soon. She can hit the speaking circuit and/or do a new nonprofit venture. I suspect she will be doing both soon anyway, regardless of whether she runs in 2016.
Republicans are scared of her. So they’ve prattled on about Benghazi and some gullible people have fallen for their crap hook, line and sinker! Anyone would think the election is next year anyway. Hillary has plenty of time to put the record straight if she decides to run. This Benghazi thing won’t even be an issue come 2016. Only in the minds of Republicans, they’ll dream about every day until the next election.